The win evens the Lady Bisons record at 1-1. The Lady Bisons are 3-0 in the series with Central Arkansas, a member of the Southland Conference.

The Lady Bisons don’t have a lot of time to enjoy the win. They are back home Tuesday night at 7 to face Austin Peay State from the Ohio Valley Conference.

Forwards Valerie Bronson and Leah McAlister both scored 12 points, a game-high, to lead the Lady Bisons. Also in double figures for the Lady Bisons were guard Chelsea Burroughs with 11 and guard Anna Bowers with 10. Eight players had six points or more for the Lady Bisons.

“It wasn’t just the players in double figures,” said Lady Bisons coach Frank Bennett. “We had so many players contribute. What was great is we found a way to win when our 3-point shooting wasn’t that good.

“It was great to have some tangible results. We saw what it takes to win a game. It’s all about doing the little things.”
The Lady Bisons were 5-of-22 from 3-point range, a 22.7 percentage. The hit 25-of-60 shots overall from the field, a 43.2 percent success rate.

McAlister and Burroughs each had a pair of 3-pointers.

The Lady Bisons were beaten 46-43 on the boards by Central Arkansas. Point guard Jenna Bartsokas led with seven rebounds. Bronson, McAlister and Burroughs each had six.

It was the best performance of her college career for McAlister, a sophomore. Bennett has been pleased with what he has seen from both McAlister and Bronson in the early stages of the season.

“I didn’t know what to expect from Leah and Val this season,” said Bennett. “Neither one was playing very much at the end of last season.

“They both came in with positive attitudes. They both started the season in better condition.”

The Lady Bisons opened the game hitting the first field goal, a lay-up by Bronson. They led 20-8 with 12:54 left to go in the first half.

The closest Central Arkansas came to the lead in the first half was 30-29 with 1:12 remaining. The Lady Bisons closed out the half with layups from McAlister and Bowers and a pair of free throws from Burroughs.

Central Arkansas, which was tied with Belmont Friday night with three minutes left to play, refused to go away. They never led in the game, but they did tie the score at 47-47 with 10:24 left in the second half.

The Lady Bisons, ahead 51-50 with 7:31 on the clock, went on a 10-2 run to break away for good.

“We came out and played well early,” said Bennett. “In the second half we started with too many defensive and block out mistakes. And we went through a little bit of a cold spell offensively.

“They came close but they never got the lead. We executed well down the stretch on both ends of the floor.”